BANGOR, Maine - The Purdue women's basketball team dropped its second game in as many days Saturday, falling to Villanova 58-44 at the Maine Tip-Off Tournament, hosted by the Black Bears at Cross Insurance Center. The Boilermakers led at the half, but suffered a 10-minute scoring drought in the second half to allow the Wildcats to pull away and earn the win.
The Boilermakers got off to a solid start Saturday, using an early spurt from senior Ashley Morrissette and taking a 15-11 lead after the first quarter. Purdue stretched its lead out to nine at the midway points of the second quarter, but four turnovers in the last five minutes of the half allowed Villanova to claw back to two at the half, 28-26.
It was all Wildcats after the break as Purdue scored only six points in the third quarter, and didn't get their first bucket of the fourth quarter until midway through. The Boilermakers went on a small run late in the game, cutting the lead to 10, 51-41, but missed the back-end of a foul and finish and Villanova connected on 3's on their next two trips to pull away for good.
Morrissette paced the Boilermakers with 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting, while freshman Dominique Oden joined her in double-figures with 12 points. Fellow first-year Ae'Rianna Harris rounded out the box score with eight points, a team-high six rebounds, two blocks and a steal, while junior Andreona Keys led the Boilermakers in assists for the second straight night with four.
Villanova's Adrianna Hahn led all scorers with 21 points, knocking down 5-of-6 3's, while Meghan Quinn had 10 points and seven boards.
Purdue plays its home-opener Thursday, hosting USC Upstate at 7 p.m. ET at Mackey Arena.